


The Bamboo Cutter and the Moon Child

by theinconceivabletruth



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Fairy Tale Retellings, Found Family, Gen, Happy Ending, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Natsume Yuujinchou Secret Santa 2019, Other characters mentioned - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:14:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22068355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theinconceivabletruth/pseuds/theinconceivabletruth
Summary: The Fujiwaras have always wanted a child. Serendipity smiles upon them, when Shigeru finds a child in the bamboo thicket.A retelling of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, or The Moon Maiden.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 67





	The Bamboo Cutter and the Moon Child

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Natsumiya_Teirin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Natsumiya_Teirin/gifts).



> For the Natsume Yuujinchou Secret Santa Exchange 2019!   
> Natsumiya_Teirin also has several cute Natsume fics that you can check out!  
> Thanks for your contributions to the fandom, Teirin!

Once there was a kind and gentle couple who were named Fujiwara Shigeru and Touko. They lived in a small town in the mountains and were beloved by all, for they were as kind and gentle as the wisteria they were named after. Fujiwara Shigeru was a bamboo-cutter, and he made their living fashioning useful things from his gatherings. He made many things from the cuttings - furniture, utensils, flutes, and other small trinkets. Touko managed a garden about their small home, and between the two of them they were content. They lived a quiet, humble life, and almost everything was perfect, but for one thing. Though they had tried for many years, they could not conceive a child, and Touko was at the age where such things became dangerous. But still the Fujiwaras desired a child to love and care for, and to teach the ways of the world in kindness. So they prayed to the gods for a child. 

One day during the highest heat of summer, under the glaring eye of the sun, Shigeru was out gathering bamboo cuttings from a large thicket. Bamboo is a stubborn plant, and here in the mountains it grew thick and wild, so thick that Shigeru could not see even a glimpse through the weave. As he cut into the thicket, he began to see a glow between the stalks of bamboo. At first, Shigeru thought it was only the glow of sunlight, but he soon realized that the bamboo was too thick, and the glow was shining silver and cool. He had never seen anything like it in all his years of cutting bamboo. Curious, Shigeru carefully cut into the thicket towards the glow. 

At last he reached what seemed to be a living wall. The living bamboo was woven like a latticework, and from inside Shigeru heard a meow. Redoubling his efforts, he finally cut through the thick weave of stalks, and found the source of the glow. 

To his astonishment, a young child lay within the thicket, curled up and sleeping, wrapped in a glowing blanket of silver. The boy’s face was smooth and pale, and his hair was silver to match the cloth. A large, fat cat lay on top of him, eyes gleaming while he watched the bamboo cutter. 

Shigeru considered the cat, and pulled out the lunch that his wife had packed him. Slowly, he reached out and offered the pickled fish to the cat. When the cat had eaten its fill, it made an odd sound that was not quite a purr, and stood up, allowing Shigeru to reach the child. Up close, the child appeared almost like a doll, with only a soft flutter of breathe to betray life. 

Gently, Shigeru shook the boy awake. When he opened his eyes, he shrank away, afraid. His eyes were a bright, vibrant green, like the bamboo that surrounded them. Shigeru’s heart was already won. 

“Don’t be afraid - I only wished to be sure you are all right. What an odd place to take a nap - do you know where your home is?” 

The boy shook his head. Undeterred, Shigeru continued. “My name is Fujiwara Shigeru. What is your name?” The boy shook his head again. Shigeru was patient, but soon determined that the boy remembered nothing - not a name, or his family, or where he might live. 

Shigeru was sad for the boy’s sake - but his heart beat hopefully for the future expansion of his small family, which they had prayed for. Saving his joy up in his heart, he took the boy home to his wife Touko. His wife was just as delighted as he, and they both swiftly fell in love with the boy. They determined they would care for him as their own son for as long as the gods might let them. They named the boy Takashi (meaning “precious will”). 

The cat followed them home. 

Under the Fujiwara’s love and devotion, Takashi swiftly grew into a strikingly handsome youth. The blanket of silver was indeed, silver, and provided enough for them that they were able to live very well. Though it was unraveled thread by thread for the bamboo cutter and his wife to use, the blanket never seemed to unravel completely. 

As Takashi grew into an almost ethereal sort of beauty, he also grew in kindness. Though many people thought him strange and a little aloof, no one disliked him (for it is the right of beautiful people to be liked). Despite this, Takashi made many steadfast friends. He had friends among the other children of the town, and they often ran wild in the woods and fields and played fantastic games. 

His most constant companion was, of course, the cat. The cat was called Nyanko-sensei, and he enjoyed Touko’s cooking very much. Touko’s cooking was the very reason Nyanko-Sensei had allowed Fujiwara Shigeru to touch the boy in the first place. 

The cat was called sensei because he was also Takashi’s teacher. Nyanko-sensei taught Takashi the ways of nature, and guarded him from harm as he explored the world and its many wonders. In this way, Takashi also became friends with many youkai of the forest. Their attention was not so visible to the mortal eye, but it gave Takashi an almost otherworldly air. Soon, he was one of the most well known figures in both the town and among the youkai. 

To begin with, Shigeru and Touko had tried to keep the existence of Takashi secret from outsiders, but as is often the case with the extraordinary, word spread. Many youkai travelled to see Takashi, and soon, many exorcists followed them. 

Many of these clans wished Takashi to marry into their family, for they were always seeking new power, and anyone could tell that Takashi was a blessed child. But Takashi always refused, saying that he loved his own family very much. If that did not faze them, he would fall back to the same statement: “I am not like you; we are not of the same people.” 

Some months after he came of age, Touko noticed that Takashi had grown sorrowful and withdrawn. He no longer went out and met with his friends from the town. Takashi would sit in Touko’s garden as she worked during the day. He brooded there, night and day, unless Touko convinced him to assist her in her gardening to distract him. At night he sat and gazed at the moon and the stars, Nyanko-sensei curled next to him. 

One night when the moon was full, Takashi sat beneath it once more. This time Shigeru and Touko both joined him. Unseen to them, a small group of youkai clustered around them. A faint scent of sake wafted through the air, though none was visible to the eye. 

“The moon shines so bright!” said Shigeru. 

Touko agreed, and said, “It gleams bright and round, like a brass saucepan.” 

Shigeru continued, trying to lighten the dark aura of Takashi’s mood. “See how bright and long that beam of light is! It is like a highway from the moon reaching to this garden.” 

It was as if all the feeling in Takashi welled up at once, and he could take it no longer. He cried out, “Shigeru-san, you are correct, it is a highway! And down that bright road come countless beings to take me away to my old home. My grandmother is the Queen of the Moon, who sent me away to grow and learn. I did not - could not - remember until the brightness of the moon struck me this year.” Though Takashi had always been strong, he was also tender, and he could not keep tears from falling. 

Shigeru and Touko were distressed by his tears, and tried to reassure him. Shigeru said, “Look! It is only mist descending, which gives the beam such a bright and solid appearance.” 

“The mist,” Takashi sobbed. “The mist is the cohorts of the Queen of the Moon.”

The youkai, too, were distressed and swirled anxiously about him. “Takashi, Takashi,” they cried. “Do you truly wish to leave us?” 

A soft “No” was all the response there was, before they were out of time.

Down came silver-gleaming warriors by the hundreds, bearing torches that burned with a heatless light. They came silently, and alighted around the garden borders, arranged in neat and straight lines. 

The leader stepped forward, carrying a heavenly feather robe. His hair was starkly dark against his gleaming silver armor. “Natsume Takashi,” he said. “I am Matoba Seiji. I am sent by your Queen Grandmother to bring you home.” 

Takashi trembled, but rose. Even as he did so, Touko begged, “Please don’t take my son away! Let him stay and live with us.” 

Matoba’s face was cold and remote. “No. It is time for him to return home. The Queen awaits.” 

There was no fight they could give, and Takashi knew it. He turned towards his foster parents. “Goodbye, Shigeru-san. Goodbye, dear Touko-san. I leave you a jewel to remember me.” 

“Wait!” cried Touko once more. “Let us too, give you something before you depart.” She hurried away to the house. Takashi asked Matoba for them to wait a little while, so that he might have something to remember his foster parents by. Matoba agreed, knowing that it would not matter in the long run, for as soon as Natsume Takashi put on the heavenly feathered cloak and ascended, he would forget all those he knew on earth. 

When Touko returned, she carried one of Shigeru’s bamboo boxes, wrapped in the remains of the endless silver blanket. She handed this to Takashi, and Shigeru slipped a simple bamboo ring upon his finger. Though they wept inside, they tried to give Takashi smiles as he embraced them. 

“Goodbye - I will always love you.” As Takashi embraced his foster parents, Matoba placed the feathered cloak around his shoulders. When he did so, Takashi forgot all about his life and time on earth. The love he felt for his parents and friends, the bitterness he felt at being forced to leave them - all of it fell away as if it was never there. Takashi turned and left with Matoba and the heavenly warriors for the moon, leaving the weeping Fujiwaras behind. 

As the group ascended back up into the heavens, Touko cried, “Quick! Help me!” For she had held tight to the loose thread of the endless silver blanket. As Takashi went away, it spooled out behind him, blending in with the bright rays of the full moon. But Touko feared she was not strong enough, so Shigeru jumped in to lend a hand. And all the invisible hands of the youkai in the garden reached out to hold tight, for they too, did not wish for Takashi to leave. 

The thread stretched up and up to the distant moon, but none there could fly. They could only secure the thread and wait. Afterwards Shigeru tried to find Nyanko-sensei, but the cat was gone. 

Matoba and his warriors took Takashi back to Tsuki-no-Miyako, the city of the moon. There they presented him to the Queen, Natsume Reiko, who was herself the very light of the moon, and the reflection of the sun’s eye. 

Natsume Takashi knelt before her. “Grandmother, I have returned.” He did not know what else to say, for though he could only remember his life on the moon, he suddenly felt much younger. 

Natsume Reiko’s face was not cold like Matoba’s, but it was as distant as the source of light she reflected. “Rise, Grandson. Your return is welcome. Please make yourself at home in your new quarters - I will see you later.” 

Natsume Takashi was escorted away again, and then left alone in a splendid set of rooms. He finally looked down, and he realized that the silver blanket had finally fully unravelled and only a small corner remained. The bamboo box was revealed. Curious as to why he was carrying such a thing, Takashi opened it. 

Inside was a home cooked meal. Takashi did not know who had made it, but he realized all of a sudden that he was very hungry. He took the bamboo chopsticks, and dug into the meal. 

Love is a very strange thing. Where there is love, it is imparted into all of our actions and all of the things that we do for those we love. Shigeru and Touko had loved their son for a long time, purely and strongly. All of that love was compressed into that small meal, and Shigeru’s quiet love echoed in his handiwork. 

With every bite that Takashi ate, the fog around his earthly memories grew a little thinner. Touko’s love shone through it and warmed him. He realized that the palace of the moon was cold. Takashi had not noticed it before. A simple bamboo ring on his finger burned warmly. 

As he reached for the last piece of white radish, Takashi felt the warmth of tears on his face again. How could he forget his parents, his friends? The ease with which the memories had slipped away was startling.

Suddenly, that piece of white radish leapt up out of reach of his chopsticks. It morphed into the small figure of a white radish youkai. "Takashi! I found you!" The white radish youkai was one of several minor youkai that hung around Takashi on earth. 

Startled, Takashi stopped crying. "What are you doing here?" The memory of such a tiny creature was distant, but warm and happy. 

"We want Takashi to come home! I came to help!" 

"I don't think I can,” Takashi said quietly. “This is supposed to be my home.” He sighed. 

The radish protested. “But Takashi! We all want you there, if you will come. We’ve always wanted you.” Now, some youkai, such as radish youkai, struggle with the concept of love, even if they do indeed feel it. But Takashi knew what he meant all the same. 

Takashi made a decision. He took the end of the thread and tied it securely about the bamboo ring on his finger. The next day, he went to confront his grandmother.   
The halls of the palace he walked through were carved of white jade, accented with silver, and were beautiful beyond measure. To Takashi they felt cold and sterile compared with the now-remembered warmth of Touko’s garden. His resolve hardened. 

When Takashi went before his grandmother, he stood tall and proud. When she asked, “Why have you come, grandson?” he replied, “Grandmother, I will be returning to the earth, to live amongst those that love me.” 

“Do your people, your countrymen, not love you, grandson? Do I not love you?” 

“No, grandmother,” Takashi replied. “Where was your love these past years?”

“That was for your protection, grandson. So do we not love you?”

“No, grandmother,” Takashi said again. “A love that must erase all others to feel secure, is not love.”

“You would forsake your immortality for the earth-dwellers? You would forsake your people? I forbid it! You shall not leave Tsuki-no-Miyako again.” Natsume Reiko smiled as she said this, for she was used to power, and to winning. Matoba Seiji came again, and this time when Takashi was escorted to his room the door was locked behind him. 

Natsume Takashi had known he would need to find a way out of the palace and back down to earth, but he did not know where to start. He had last been on the moon many years ago. He laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling above him. The radish spoke his thoughts aloud. “What do we do next, Takashi?”

But Takashi did not know how to answer. The silence filled the room. 

From the corner, the voice of the cat spoke. “Do you trust me, Takashi?” Green eyes gleamed. 

“Nyanko-sensei!” Takashi sat bolt upright as the fat cat waddled over to him. “How did you get here? Why are you here?” 

“The same way we are going to leave here, you brat. But we cannot leave until the highway opens again. Can you make it until then?” The other question was ignored; Nyanko-sensei had never been one to indulge in feelings. 

Takashi knew the moonbeam highway would not be passable until the next full moon, but he could already feel his earthly memories fading once more. He rubbed the bamboo ring on his finger and felt them brighten again. He nodded. Takashi would make sure he did.

Each day, Takashi carefully opened up the bamboo box, felt its careful joingings, and smoothing his fingers over the bamboo ring. As he did so, he focused on his memories of the Fujiwaras. Afterwards, he hid the box so that it could not be taken away. He spoke with the white radish youkai about their other spirit friends and their past adventures together. He slept curled around the cat, clutching the end of the silver thread wrapped around the bamboo ring. 

The moon waned and waxed, and in a month’s time there was another full moon. The highway appeared again. By this time, Takashi could only keep a few precious memories clear in his mind, and he knew they needed to leave at once. 

In the nighttime, he woke the cat and gathered the radish up inside the bamboo box. “Nyanko-sensei, we need to leave. Can you take me home?” 

The cat breathed in, and with a great rushing exhalation there was a burst of smoke that obscured Takashi’s vision. When it cleared, there was no longer a cat in the room. Instead a great wolf-like creature, with fur as silver as Takashi’s own hair, stood before him. It’s great great eyes were nearly the size of Takashi’s head. 

“Is that really you, Nyanko-sensei?” 

“Yes, you silly boy. I have been your guardian these many years as you have grown up, and I will be your guardian still. Now that you are grown, I gift my name to you. I am Madara, and none shall stop me where I choose to go. Now, get on my back, Takashi!” 

So Takashi climbed up on the back of the great beast Madara. With a powerful leap, he was through the window and out of the palace. They flew through the sky, light of foot. Matoba’s warriors gave chase, but none were fast enough to catch them. Down the moonbeam highway they raced, following the silver thread.

That single thread had fixed the moonbeam highway in place, where its beams would normally wander. Once they reached Touko’s garden, Madara reached out with a great paw and severed the thread. The rays of light shivered and broke beneath the feet following behind, contrary after being bound so long to one place. Their pursuers could no longer follow them. 

Exhausted and joyful, Takashi slid off of Madara’s broad back and smiled up at him. “Thank you, Madara.” 

The beast was already beginning to shrink back down to the familiar form of a cat, but Takashi still heard his grumble. “Thank me with a bottle of sake now that you’re of age, you brat.” 

A cry went up from the house behind them. “Takashi!” Touko came rushing out, Shigeru close behind. Both were still in their night robes, but neither seemed to care. 

Caught up in two pairs of warm arms, Takashi finally relaxed. Beloved memories resurfaced alongside the one he had kept the most close and clear in the cold palace of the moon: these same arms, welcoming him home.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time completing a gift exchange or deadline for a fic! I was a little late, but I posted to Tumblr first. Some of the prompts from Natsumiya_Teirin included fairytales and Natsume Protection Squad vs Matoba, as well as a desire to see more of the Fujiwaras. Hopefully I delivered? Natsume Reiko kinda seems like the bad guy in this fic, but really its more that she just... has a very different approach on life than Takashi does. I honestly don't think they would agree very much if they met in canon, even if I like both of their characters lots!
> 
> Folklore Notes: There are multiple versions of The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter or The Moon Maiden. I used two sources for drawing my material. [This version](https://folkrealmstudies.weebly.com/japanese-folktales-the-bamboo-cutter-and-the-moon-child.html) included the five impossible tasks, which I chose not to use for this particular work, but it does talk about the loss of memories (which, imo, doesn't mesh with sending your kid to earth to learn a lesson!). The second was [ another version that doesn't include the tasks ](https://fairytalez.com/the-moon-maiden/). Both versions end in quite a lot of heartbreak, which I took quite a few liberties with how to end, and had Natsume Takashi return to his foster parents. 
> 
> Constructive Criticism is appreciated!


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